1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ostomy appliance body side member, an ostomy appliance comprising such body side member, to an ostomy sealing member, to a one-piece ostomy appliance, and to methods of applying an ostomy appliance body side member or a one-piece ostomy appliance around a stoma.
In connection with surgery for a number of diseases in the gastro-intestinal or urinary tract a consequence is, in many cases, that the colon, the ileum or the ureter has been exposed surgically and the patient is left with an abdominal stoma, or, in nephrostomy or ureterostomy, the ureter or a catheter is exposed in the back or the chest region or abdominal region, and the effluents or waste products of the body, which are conveyed through these organs, are discharged through the artificial orifice or opening and are collected in a collection bag, which is usually adhered to the skin by means of an adhesive wafer or plate having an inlet opening for accommodating the stoma/ureter/catheter. Also in connection with a fistula, the patient will have to rely on an appliance to collect the bodily material emerging from such opening.
Ostomy appliances are well known. Such appliances may be two-piece or one-piece appliances. In both types of appliances, an adhesive barrier member (or base plate) is attached to the wearer's abdomen/back/chest. In case of a one-piece appliance, a receiving member or bag is attached to the base plate. In case of a two-piece appliance, the adhesive barrier member forms part of a body side member and a receiving member or bag is attached releasably to the body side ostomy member for receiving exudates from the stoma.
When using one-piece appliances, the whole appliance, including the adhesive skin barrier securing the appliance to the skin is normally removed and replaced by a fresh appliance. When using two-piece appliances, the body side ostomy member is left in place up to several days, and only the receiving member or bag attached to the body side member is replaced. The attachment means for attaching an ostomy receiving bag may e.g. be a system se comprising matching coupling rings or matching flanges and adhesive surfaces engaging with and sealing against a flange area of the body side member.
It is necessary to change the body side member of a two-piece appliance when the centre part of the adhesive wafer has been sufficiently deteriorated to allow access of the aggressive exudates to the skin surrounding the stoma, irrespective of the fact that the wafer as such has a much longer wearing time. The access of aggressive exudates to the skin is causing skin problems.
Frequent changing of the body side member of a two-piece appliance is undesirable due to the irritation of the skin and the quality of life of the user may be improved and the nuisance of the wearing of an ostomy appliance reduced if the intervals between exchanging of body side member can be increased.
The service time of the body side ostomy member depends inter alia of the amount and the aggressiveness of the exudates and of the sealing between the stoma and the body side ostomy member.
The sealing depends on the fit to the stoma. Conventionally, only a limited number of standard appliances having holes of different size are available and the user or an assistant must customise the body side member by cutting the edge of the hole to adapt the body side member to the stoma. However, the resulting hole may show an exposed edge which may injure the surface of the stoma e.g. when the user bends or turns due to the exposed edge of the carrier sheet which after cutting even may show a serrated edge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Published International Patent Application No. WO 98/53771 discloses an ostomy appliance comprising a body side member comprising an adhesive wafer for securing the appliance to the user's skin, said wafer having a hole for receiving a stoma, and an optionally separately exchangeable receiving member or bag secured to the body side ostomy member for receiving secretions from the ostomy said ostomy appliance further comprising a sealing member disposed in the hole of the wafer surrounding the stoma wherein the sealing member disposed in the hole of the wafer surrounding the stoma, said sealing member having a hole for accommodating the stoma and said sealing member having balanced plastic and elastic properties allowing a better adaptation of the hole of the ostomy appliance to a stoma by a temporary enlarging the hole by everting or rolling up the inner rim of the hole for accommodating the stoma.
When the ostomy appliance disclosed in WO 98/53771 has been placed over and around a stoma the adhesive sealing member may recover essentially to the original form to fit snugly to the stoma. The “release” may be performed using e.g. a finger or more or less automatically due to influence by elastic force, heat and/or humidity causing the sealing member to essentially resume its original shape.
However, there is still a risk of constriction of the stoma due to elastic properties of the adhesive forming the wafer, which may cause harm to the stoma and which cannot be controlled after application.
Thus, there is still a need for a sealing against a stoma ensuring that no leak occurs at the rim of the stoma in order to prolong the service time of the appliance, which ensures an easy adaptation to the actual user and at the same time reduces the risk of causing injury to or constriction of the stoma.